Yesterday was our final morning on the ship as we disembarked at Kirkenes.
Trying to re-pack was, shall we say interesting, as it was a struggle to get everything into the cases in the first place – thank heaven for travel vacuum bags. I decided that the waffleweave robe welcome gift from hurtigruten was coming home with me… so I ditched one pair of hiking boots which has been hurting me to no end on the way in. If I wear thick enough socks with my sneakers I do not feel the cold and they take less space in the luggage. Given the excursion planned for the day – the snow boots were the shoes of choice for the day.
Sitting with the BlueTooth keyboard on my lap and the tablet/screen on the windowsill – Colin calls this ‘long-distance’ blogging 😛 We are watching the ‘traffic’ go by as staff travel between the restaurant and the Gabba building and reception – along the outside of the snow hotel. The snow hotel just in front of our window… resembles a white marshmallow caterpillar with the ice bar at the ‘head’.
Beyond that the 150 odd huskies are lounging around, some lying on top of their kennels… enjoying the breeze. At around -2 degrees today, they are hot as they prefer temperatures -20 and lower.
And a new round of guests just arrived for a snow hotel tour.
Some staff went walking with three of the huskies this morning. They were bouncing around everywhere, running around in the deep snow, having a ball of a time. It was fun to watch.
Earlier a ‘maintenance’ crew went by with a ladder on the snowscooter…
Currently it is not snowing, but the sky is grey and cloudy. At around 8:30 light snow was drifting down, swirling around us as we walked to the restaurant for breakfast – making tracks in last nights fresh snow.
But I digress – Kirkeness arrival…
Breakfast felt quiet, a kind of no-mans land as cabins were cleared for check out and breakfast was ‘something to do’ while waiting to arrive at port. The staff reminded patrons that it is 8:20 and they were supposed to vacate cabins by 8:00. That was kind of funny – for us anyway.
We wheeled our luggage accross the ice on quay to our waiting bus and the guide Ernst confirmed that they will drop us at the Thon hotel after the excursion. He is a retired guide that ‘takes a tourgroup every now and then when his wife complains that he has to do a task around the house’
He was awesome, sharp and full of jokes. Very different from most of the locals who can be quite sullen.
Our first stop was the old bombshelter in town, where we saw a video about how the Germans invaded Kirkenes (due to its proximity to Russia’s Murmansk harbour town – the only ice-free Russian port where allies could get supplies into russia). Eventually 3 weeks before the end of the war, the town was freed by the Russians and the 3000 citizens who was mostly hiding in a mining tunnel outside town could come out – to a city devasted by war. He was one of the children in that mineshaft.
After the war the russians helped the town to rebuild itself and due to labour shortages experienced currently, natives within a 30km radius of the town can cross the border without visas and many russians come to Kirkenes to work and return home at night. There are also several russian fishing trawlers in the harbour that fish king crabs (on quota) in the Norwegian waters outside the town.
The border has seen some migrant action the last few months with around 5 000 migrants (mostly from Syria and Afganistan) entering here from the Russian side. They were housed and registered in the new bomb shelter and sent to other places in Norway. Other than that the border is quiet, we did not wake sleeping dogs by going past the blue sign.
Back in town we dropped the passgengers returning to the ship at the quay, and we got dropped at the quayside Thon hotel to pass the around 1 hour untill the Snow Hotel pick-up. The hotel is very modern, with great views from the lobby bar/restaurant over the water. They have AWESOME cuppuchino – the best we’ve had so far in Norway.
Upon arrival at the snow hotel, we were welcomed and registered by the owner and our luggage tagged for delivery to our cabins. Johannes – the person responsible for building the snow hotel each year gave us a tour around the facility, explained about the huskies, showed us the baby puppies and let us feed the resident raindeer (on lease from the Sami as Norgwegians are not allowed to own reindeer).
He then showed us around his ‘baby’ – the snow hotel with the Viking Theme for this year. The decorations change each year, but somehow there is always a Marilyn Monroe and Taj Mahal themed room – by popular demand. These are closest to the heated showers and washrooms and can sleep families (more than two persons). No luck for me getting a room close to the bathroom on Sunday night then 😛
We then went to our wooden cabin where heated interiors (under-floor and aircon) and our luggage awaited us. It is awesome and the bathroom ‘window’ is a northern light themed lightbox. There is also a little portch and a dressing room where you can hang your coats and wet shoes and store the luggage.
Supper was nettle soup and fresh bread . followed by rack of lamb, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Dessert was creme caramel with cream. Massive portions and very good.
We watched for some Northern lights, but it was too foggy and the forecast did not bode well for possibility of clear skies. We eventually gave up and turned in for the night.
Tonight we have the husky ride from around 5pm untill 10 pm, with a picnic dinner along the way. The forecast for Northern lights looks good, with less cloudcover expected. We’ll see what the evening brings.
This afternoon is lunch at the Gabba Restaurant – the one with the hearth in the middle – less formal that last night’s setting.
PS – This morning after breakfast I made a snow angel in the snow next to our cabin. Bucket list – check!
Temple & Iceberg Trails: A Journey Through Asperger's 